Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he doesn't know why one of his biggest supporters is also pumping money into the campaign to defeat the medical marijuana effort on the November election ballot. New campaign reports show the billionaire casino magnate from Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson, pumped $2.5 million into the group Drug Free Florida. That's 96 percent of the money Drug Free Florida took in last month. Adelson is also among Scott's top donors, with a $250,000 contribution toward his re-election in June 2012.

Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he doesn't know why one of his biggest supporters is also pumping money into the campaign to defeat the medical marijuana effort on the November election ballot. New campaign reports show the billionaire casino magnate from Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson, pumped $2.5 million into the group Drug Free Florida. That's 96 percent of the money Drug Free Florida took in last month. Adelson is also among Scott's top donors, with a $250,000 contribution toward his re-election in June 2012.

The old expression "Money talks" appears to have infected the U.S. Supreme Court. Our political system is tainted by huge contributions meant to influence legislation. Whether from corporations, unions or private people, these donations are intended to control elections and further someone's personal interests. It is a fact that prospective candidates gather at Sheldon Adelson's doorstep to seek financial aid, and those who guarantee to support his agenda are rewarded. Whether on the left or right, it's unfair, undemocratic and just plain influence peddling.

The old expression "Money talks" appears to have infected the U.S. Supreme Court. Our political system is tainted by huge contributions meant to influence legislation. Whether from corporations, unions or private people, these donations are intended to control elections and further someone's personal interests. It is a fact that prospective candidates gather at Sheldon Adelson's doorstep to seek financial aid, and those who guarantee to support his agenda are rewarded. Whether on the left or right, it's unfair, undemocratic and just plain influence peddling.

An old friend, John Bace, now a Chicago-based analyst with the Cadillac of computer think tanks, the Gartner Group, told me last week that he views what goes on at the huge computer trade shows as what goes on when the animals gather at the water hole on the Serengeti Plain. "The young lions look at the old lions and wonder if they can kill them yet," Bace said. "Meanwhile, both the young and the old lions look at the other animals and wonder which ones they should kill next. The other animals try to figure out how they can avoid being killed."

Currently airing is an ad by the Jewish Republican Coalition, aimed at American Jews and funded by Sheldon Adelson. It is ironic that it came out during the holiest days of the year for Jews. Not committing slander is number nine in the Ten Commandments. The ad, among other things, featured an individual saying that the unemployment rate is the same or higher than when President Obama took office (false), that Obama called for a return to the 1967 borders (false), that Obama refuses to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel (false)

I hope you've already chosen which side you're on in the coming political Armageddon. There's no time to waste: The War on Truth is about to begin with a ferocity never before seen, let alone imagined. No one has the luxury of sitting it out. The right-wing cabal in this country will soon attempt to take over — and subvert — the Internet, especially social media sites like Twitter, if they haven't done so already. To the shock of Karl Rove, cyberspace has turned out to be more powerful than the obscene heaps of Koch brothers' and Sheldon Adelson's tainted millions, which he and others have been doling out and pocketing with abandon to tear Obama down and build Romney up. Rove et al have learned to their dismay that money used to spread lies is no match for the "people's media" that tell truths: Every flip-flop, lie, and distortion that they once could have spewed with impunity almost instantly boomerangs on them.

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Liberal pundits have coined a new saw: Sheldon Adelson and the newspaper he owns, Israel Hayom , are primarily responsible for the collapse of many Israeli media outlets, and this endangers Israeli democracy. The assertion is wrong on both the business and ideological levels. The imminent failures of Maariv and Channel 10 television, and the deep troubles of Haaretz and other smaller publications, are first and foremost the function of long-term market forces, such as the advent of Internet news sites, that predate Israel Hayom . Maariv's downward slope began long before Israel Hayom debuted in 2007, which explains why Maariv was bought and sold four times — at a loss each time — over the past 20 years.

Warren Buffett, of course, and then Bill Gates, but can you name the third-richest American? He is Sheldon Adelson, 74, whose net worth is, according to Forbes, $26 billion. He made his first fortune by founding and then selling a computer exposition here. Today he is thriving in part thanks to Asians who gamble here and in Macao, a tiny appendage of China. His Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the largest investor in China, ever. Compact and combative as a bantam rooster, Adelson, son of a Boston cab driver, used $128 million to buy the old Sands, the haunt of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack.

Wake up, Floridians! You're about to be "had. " Tea Party/GOP Gov. Rick Scott and other proponents of expanding gambling in the state are just as bad as Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, maybe worse. Their con is pitching that casinos, more lottery options, slots, roulette, and similar immoral games to take people's money will flood the state with billions of investment dollars, tens of thousands of high-paying jobs, hoards of high-roller (especially rich, foreign) tourists, and buyers of expensive condos.

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Liberal pundits have coined a new saw: Sheldon Adelson and the newspaper he owns, Israel Hayom , are primarily responsible for the collapse of many Israeli media outlets, and this endangers Israeli democracy. The assertion is wrong on both the business and ideological levels. The imminent failures of Maariv and Channel 10 television, and the deep troubles of Haaretz and other smaller publications, are first and foremost the function of long-term market forces, such as the advent of Internet news sites, that predate Israel Hayom . Maariv's downward slope began long before Israel Hayom debuted in 2007, which explains why Maariv was bought and sold four times — at a loss each time — over the past 20 years.

I hope you've already chosen which side you're on in the coming political Armageddon. There's no time to waste: The War on Truth is about to begin with a ferocity never before seen, let alone imagined. No one has the luxury of sitting it out. The right-wing cabal in this country will soon attempt to take over — and subvert — the Internet, especially social media sites like Twitter, if they haven't done so already. To the shock of Karl Rove, cyberspace has turned out to be more powerful than the obscene heaps of Koch brothers' and Sheldon Adelson's tainted millions, which he and others have been doling out and pocketing with abandon to tear Obama down and build Romney up. Rove et al have learned to their dismay that money used to spread lies is no match for the "people's media" that tell truths: Every flip-flop, lie, and distortion that they once could have spewed with impunity almost instantly boomerangs on them.

Currently airing is an ad by the Jewish Republican Coalition, aimed at American Jews and funded by Sheldon Adelson. It is ironic that it came out during the holiest days of the year for Jews. Not committing slander is number nine in the Ten Commandments. The ad, among other things, featured an individual saying that the unemployment rate is the same or higher than when President Obama took office (false), that Obama called for a return to the 1967 borders (false), that Obama refuses to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel (false)

Wake up, Floridians! You're about to be "had. " Tea Party/GOP Gov. Rick Scott and other proponents of expanding gambling in the state are just as bad as Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, maybe worse. Their con is pitching that casinos, more lottery options, slots, roulette, and similar immoral games to take people's money will flood the state with billions of investment dollars, tens of thousands of high-paying jobs, hoards of high-roller (especially rich, foreign) tourists, and buyers of expensive condos.

Warren Buffett, of course, and then Bill Gates, but can you name the third-richest American? He is Sheldon Adelson, 74, whose net worth is, according to Forbes, $26 billion. He made his first fortune by founding and then selling a computer exposition here. Today he is thriving in part thanks to Asians who gamble here and in Macao, a tiny appendage of China. His Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the largest investor in China, ever. Compact and combative as a bantam rooster, Adelson, son of a Boston cab driver, used $128 million to buy the old Sands, the haunt of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack.

An old friend, John Bace, now a Chicago-based analyst with the Cadillac of computer think tanks, the Gartner Group, told me last week that he views what goes on at the huge computer trade shows as what goes on when the animals gather at the water hole on the Serengeti Plain. "The young lions look at the old lions and wonder if they can kill them yet," Bace said. "Meanwhile, both the young and the old lions look at the other animals and wonder which ones they should kill next. The other animals try to figure out how they can avoid being killed."

Matthew Bogdanoff, of Fort Lauderdale, is the new Florida regional director for the Republican Jewish Coalition. He'll work from the organization's Boca Raton office, the coalition announced Wednesday. Bogdanoff, 29, is the son of former state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, but he has plenty of political credentials of his own. He managed the successful 2010 campaign for state Rep. George Moraitis, R-Fort Lauderdale, and became Moraitis' first legislative aide.

After more unflattering news reports last week about his light schedule, Florida Governor Charlie Crist keeps phoning it in. Today?s schedule shows three phone calls. Yesterday?s showed two phone calls after a 9 a.m. appearance at Valencia Community College. The reason: Charlie has gone west, racking up cash for his U.S. Senate campaign. Last night he was in Las Vegas. Today he?ll be in Arizona. Tomorrow he?ll hit California, where he?ll have a lunch fundraiser with the Governator -- Calif.